The Effectiveness of Manuka Honey in Treating Staphylococcus aureus in C. elegans.

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is a severe problem stemming from the overuse of antibiotics. Manuka honey, a unique honey from New Zealand, may serve as an alternative to traditional antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. A transgenic line of Caenorhabditis elegans , hlh-30 ::3xFLAG::eGFP, was utilized as a stress reporter strain to quantify changes in GFP expression associated with host response to S. aureus infection and honey treatment. Imaging, longevity, and developmental assays all demonstrated that manuka honey reduced the host stress response to S. aureus infection in C. elegans . These findings suggest that manuka honey may be effective against S. aureus infections.